Deconstructing: Haas-Bioroid

Welcome back to my Deconstructing series, looking at the cards for a faction in detail. This time, we will be moving from a Runner faction to a Corp faction, with Haas-Bioroid.

Haas-Bioroid are all about efficiency, squeezing as much out of their turn as they can. Considering their background in being one of the two leading corporations in "labour solutions", their cards suit them perfectly.

So, let us begin

Identity
Haas-Bioroid: Engineering the Future (Core) - One of my favourite abilities from the core identities, and the first that demonstrates their efficiency. By having the first card install give you a credit, it effectively means the Corp needs to use one less click a turn to gain credit over the other corps. As a result, they are actively encouraged to expand their servers, be it central or remote.

Agenda
Accelerated Beta Test (Core) - Our first and only agenda, it fits the general pattern of costing one more to advance than the number of agenda points it gives. What is good about this agenda is that it allows you to expand your board control, by looking at the top three cards from R&D, and if they are Ice, installing and rezzing them. Unfortunately, any non-Ice are trashed. So like so many other things in this game, there is no reward without risk. Because this ignores all costs, it means Ice with an additional cost such as Weyland's Archer (Core) do not have to have an agenda discarded to pay for them. It is also important to remember that the effect on this agenda is "may", so if you have seen most of your Ice, or don't want to risk trashing anything you may need, you can always choose to not trigger it and still get the points.

Asset
Adonis Campaign (Core) - One of the three non-operation Corporate cards to increase income, and part of an ongoing debate as to which is the best source for repeated income. Giving 12 credits over four turns, but costing 4 credits to rez, this card will potentially give the corp 8 credits over it's lifetime. Now such a card will get the attention of the Runner, as they want to keep you as poor as possible so you can't afford the Ice to stop them running. As a result of this, do not rez it until the end of the Runner's turn. That way if they run against it and trash it, whilst you won't be earning anything from it, you also paid nothing for it and they spent 3 credits trashing it, giving you an overall gain of 3 credits. Once you have started to earn from it, it will never have lead to a profit for the Runner to trash it, all they can to is avoid you earning from it. Once all the credits are gone and it trashes itself, if you placed it in a well defended remote server, it is now free for you to place agendas in without having to build up from scratch again.
Aggressive Secretary (Core) - This is indeed one aggressive secretary! Our ambush asset, which increases in effectiveness based on the number of advancement tokens, similar to those belonging to other Corps. Instead of causing damage that the Runner can mitigate by drawing cards, or avoiding tags, she instead hits them where it hurts and goes for their programs. A heavily stacked Djinn (Core) loaded with Viruses causing trouble? Gone! Just be careful of Sacrificial construct (Core), as it will be trashed instead of one of their programs.

Ice
Heimdall 1.0 (Core) - The first of our Bioroid Ice, and the most expensive to rez. Heimdall has a mighty strength 6, and three sub-routines that will be troublesome for any Runner that encounters them - Brain damage to reduce their maximum hand, and two copies of the End the Run (ETR), so that both copies have to be broken for the Runner to get past. Unfortunately, all Bioroid Ice can be broken by the Runner spending clicks, without using any Icebreakers. As such, when there is only one Bioroid Ice protecting a server, a Runner could run as their first click, and spend the remaining three clicks to break through. So it means if the Runner wants to hit that server at the cost of it being all they do that turn, they can. Because of this, combine multiple Bioroids together, or Ice such as Enigma (Core) in front for the subroutine to force them to lose a click.
Ichi 1.0 (Core) - The second of our Bioroid Ice, and the one I have mixed opinion of. Trashing the Runner's programs can put a major dent in their plans, and even in their economy. The Trace, if it happens, and at Trace 1 is questionable, reinforces the brain damage effect on some of our cards. But lacking ETR is noticeable, and early game if the Runner has no programs as they are looking to see the weaknesses in your servers, they will simply spend a click to avoid the trace, assuming they don't want to lose credits instead.
Viktor 1.0 (Core) - The third and final of our Bioroid Ice, and in many ways is the younger sibling of Heimdall 1.0, sharing two of its subroutine - ETR and brain damage. With the low rez cost, this makes it viable as an early game Ice. Even though it won't always stop the Runner, as mentioned it can slow down their options for a turn, or force them to get an Icebreaker and pay for breaking it. And if they go that route, they will hand to get those credits from somewhere, most likely from clicks.
Rototurret (Core) - Our final piece of Ice, and currently our only one where the Runner has to break it using their Icebreakers. Unfortunately it has a strength of 0, so once they do get a Killer Icebreaker, they can walk past it. But until then, the combination of ETR and trashing a program means the server will be unavailable to them, and if they make a run without knowing this is protecting it, it should be an unwelcome surprise for the Runner.

Operations
Archived Memories (Core) - The only recursion available at present for the Corp, but unlike the Runner version Deja Vu (Core), ours has no credit cost. So when you need to get back Adonis Campaign for more credits, something trashed due to Noise, or an agenda trashed due to Accelerated Beta Test, amongst many other options, this is the only way. And thankfully for Hass-Bioroid players, we don't have to influence for it.
Biotic Labor (Core) - The ultimate example of how to make the most of your turn, for four credits it is giving the corp an extra click. (Yes, the card gives two clicks, but a click was needed to play it.) So for those turns when you want to do something in addition to spending three clicks to discard all virus tokens or use Melange Mining Corp (Core), you will still have a click remaining. Alternatively, it allows you to install and then advance a three advancement cost agenda, such as Accelerated Beta Test, scoring it before the Runner can take a run at it.
Shipment from Mirrormorph (Core) - The final card to increase Haas-Bioroid's efficiency, for a single credit, it allows you to install up to three cards. Early game it could be for protecting your central servers from the Runner, whilst mid-late it can create a remote server with Ice to defend it. Whilst the operation costs a credit, if you haven't installed a card yet, it effectively pays for itself due to getting a credit back from the identity.

Upgrades
Corporate Troubleshooter (Core) - An interesting card, for when you need a one-off boost to a piece of Ice in a server. Unfortunately, it relies on non-Bioroid Ice making it more likely to be splashed into non-Haas-Bioroid decks. However, it also makes an excellent decoy for the Runner, as it can be used to create a remote server, and with a trash cost of two, so that if they do run against it, they won't always trash it.
Experiential Data (Core) - The usefulness of this card really depends on your playstyle. If you go for lots of small remote servers, running at most one Ice, then this card isn't worthwhile. In contrast, if you go for a small amount of remote servers with multiple Ice, such as one for agendas, and another for credit gain, then this card can be tremendous. Unfortunately it has a similar problem to the Corporate Troubleshooter above, in that increasing the strength of our bioroid Ice just isn't that good.

So there you have it, my thoughts on Haas-Bioroid, and their cards.

For all their speed and efficiency, I feel the area they need to spend influence on more than anywehere is getting Ice from the other factions. Relying on Bioroids and neutral Ice wil not get them far enough.
I also feel that you should expect your servers to get hit, but that will be the only thing to do that turn. So by combining the speed of your own deck, with the delaying factor placed on the Runner, you should be able to control them enough so you can win.

I am curious what newer versions of Heimdall, Ichi and Viktor will be like. I doubt they called them 1.0 for nothing...

Finally, please see Corporate Operations -- Haas-Bioroid and Installing, written by Nerdcore, for more of a practical approach to using this faction.

Please note that like so many people, this is based on theory and a small but growing amount of practical experience. I do not dare declare myself as a seasoned veteran, although I do plan to be one day